Protester of Scientology accused of hitting member
By STEPHEN THOMPSON of The Tampa Tribune

CLEARWATER - A Church of Scientology foe is arrested on charges
of hitting a Scientologist with a picket sign.

A self-made millionaire, known for his costly and widely
reported war with the Church of Scientology, took his crusade
to the streets Sunday night and was arrested after a skirmish
with a church staff member.

Retired investment banker Robert S. Minton, 53, was charged
with misdemeanor battery after a Clearwater police officer said
he saw Minton hit a staff researcher with a protest sign about
10:40 p.m. Sunday, according to jail records and police.

The researcher, Richard Howd, 33, of Clearwater, had been
following and videotaping Minton, as often happens to
protesters outside its headquarters and hotel at 210 S. Fort
Harrison Ave.

According to a jail affidavit, Minton turned and shouted at
Howd to stop following him. Then Minton shoved the sign into
Howd's face, slightly cutting him above the left eye and
leaving an abrasion below it, the affidavit states. Howd was
treated at Morton Plant Hospital and released.

The sign was 20 by 30 inches, said Clearwater police spokesman
Wayne Shelor. On one side was written, ``Lisa's Blood On
Scientology Hands,'' and on the other, ``Scientology ...
Spiritual Death,'' with the words surrounded by pictures of
skeletons.

The sign referred to Lisa McPherson, a church member who fell
ill and died during a 17-day stay in the church- owned hotel
where Minton was protesting.

Minton has paid the bills of an attorney representing the
McPherson family in a wrongful death lawsuit in Hillsborough
County.

Sunday night's dispute was the latest in a series of
confrontations between Minton and the church. Anti-Minton
fliers written by Scientologists have been dropped at his
doorstep in Boston and at the homes of his neighbors.

Minton was arrested last year and charged with hitting a church
spokesman with a balsa stick that had been attached to a sign
he was carrying during a protest in Boston. Those charges were
dropped.